Network Rail chief executive to quit at crucial transition point July 24, 2013 Network Rail chief executive Sir David Higgins is expected to step down next year, according to reports from a Sky News editor. EXCLUSIVE: Network Rail chief executive Sir David Higgins expected to step down next year. Only been in job since 2011. Full story up soon. — Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) July 24, 2013 Higgins has [...]
Main street versus Wall Street: A mixed bag of corporate earnings July 24, 2013 Last week, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that main street is doing better than Wall Street. Judging by today’s second quarter corporate results coming out of the US this afternoon, he could have a point. PepsiCo reported a 35 per cent boost in net income to $2.01bn, or $1.28 per share, up from 94 [...]
There will be a woman on our notes – Bank of England confirms Jane Austen will be on the £10 July 24, 2013 The Bank of England has confirmed that Jane Austen will feature on the next £10 note, due to be introduced in 2016. She replaces Charles Darwin. We'll be waiting just under a year for a (non-Royal) woman on our cash, as Sir Winston Churchill replaces Elizabeth Fry on the £5 issue. The image of Austen [...]
Member of German opposition party says joint euro debt inevitable July 24, 2013 The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) may have lost a few more fans after its candidate for chancellor Peer Steinbrueck’s chief economic policy adviser said the introduction of some form of joint European debt liability to resolve the eurozone crisis would be inevitable. The SPD is the second major party in Germany next to Angela [...]
US new home sales jump to five year high July 24, 2013 New home sales are up in the US, rising from 0.459m (revised from 0.476m) to 0.497m in July. Economists had forecast an increase to just 0.485m. That's an 8.3 per cent change, up from 1.3 per cent last month. This comes after existing US home sales missed on Monday.
Greece missing just one requirement for next aid tranche July 24, 2013 Following yesterday’s news that the latest tranche of Greek aid was to be delayed after the country failed to confirm five of the 22 conditions required, the Eurogroup of finance ministers has said Greece has met 21 of the conditions and it is possible the final one will be met tomorrow. The condition yet to [...]
US manufacturing surprises analysts with a strong surge in growth July 24, 2013 Following strong manufacturing figures from France, Germany and the eurozone, the US has surprised analysts with decisively strong growth to a four month high in July. The Markit purchasing manager's index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 53.2 from 51.9, against analyst expectations of a flat rate of growth at 51.9. Any figure above 50 implies [...]
Goldman Sachs says that 10 year bonds are now less appealing than cash July 24, 2013 In a new note, Goldman Sach's investment research team suggests that trackers are weighting 10 year government bonds too highly, and should now prefer cash. For the best returns, equities are set to deliver 13 per cent in the next 12 months say Goldman. That's a far higher rate of return than the two per [...]
Dell offer raised by founder – it’s apparently his final and best July 24, 2013 Technology giant Dell has announced that its founder Michael Dell and the private equity group Silverlake have hiked their offer for the firm to $13.75 per share. That's an increase of $0.10 per share, and constitutes what Michael Dell says is his final and best offer. The Dell special meeting has been delayed until Friday, [...]
US spy fugitive Snowden may have been granted temporary asylum in Russia July 24, 2013 State-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported that former NSA contractor and US fugitive Edward Snowden has been given an official pass to leave Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Snowden has been living in the transit zone since arriving from Hong Kong on 23 June 2013. He has requested asylum in a number of countries and [...]